Office Cleaning Checklist – What Your Cleaners Should Do February 15, 2012 No Comments

When you pay for an office cleaning service, you want to get what you pay for. Commercial cleaning providers will often supply a checklist of services so you can choose how much or how little they do. If you don’t have a checklist provided by the company, it is a good idea to create one yourself. Here is a list of the most important things to be sure you have done to maintain a sparkling clean workplace. It also helps to keep on top of the efficiency of your cleaning company, as you can check for yourself what has been done.
Entry or Reception
Your reception area represents your customer’s first impression. You want it to always be bright, clean and inviting. Top cleaning tasks for the reception area;
o Door glass crystal clear and wood dust free
o Carpet clean and vacuumed
o Reception counter dust and fingerprint free
o Artwork dusted and glass cleaned
o Phones and computers wiped down
o Tabletops dusted and polished
o Magazines organized
o Garbage bins emptied
Offices/Cubicles
Every individual needs a clean work environment. A well organized and clean workplace helps to make everyone more productive.
o Desks dusted
o Carpets Cleaned and vacuumed
o Filing cabinets wiped down
o Window sills wiped down
o Phones and Computers wiped down
o Door glass cleaned
o Bookcases/book spines dusted
o Light fixtures dusted or wiped down
o Rubbish emptied
Washrooms
A clean and sanitized washroom is a must in any working environment. Make sure yours is in top shape with all of these things done!
o Sink, fixtures and toilets cleaned and sanitized
o Mirrors polished
o Counter tops cleaned and sanitized
o Soap and towel dispensers wiped down
o Floors mopped
o Trash emptied
Kitchen/Break room
If your office has a kitchen or break room where employees eat, it is imperative that this space be clean and sanitary even if no food preparation is done there.
o Sink, fixtures and countertops wiped down and sanitized
o Stove top and refrigerator wiped down
o Microwave wiped down
o Cabinets dusted or wiped
o Wall outlets wiped and sanitized
o Tables, benches and chairs wiped down
o Trash can emptied and disinfected
o All garbage removed
These are just the very basic cleaning procedures that should be completed daily. If you don’t use a cleaning service, it is a good idea to post a checklist within the office for employees in each area so everyone can do their part in keeping up with daily cleaning chores. Keep a tote or container in a cupboard that is easily accessible to everyone and be sure that someone is assigned the task of keeping it organized and well stocked with the necessary cleaning items.
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Cleaning Your Washing Machine December 18, 2011 No Comments
Is cleaning your washing machine important? It certainly is! The inside of your washing machine is constantly being subjected to dirty water, mineral deposits, detergent deposits, and if you launder cloth diapers it is especially important to keep your machine clean and in tip-top condition. Much like dishwashers, sinks and bathtubs get dirty even though they are meant to clean things, your washing machine can become a mess in no time. Though, most dirt and soil is washed out with the water, dirt, soap residue and other unidentifiable grungy objects can be left behind and you actually have to get rid of this dirt yourself. Every time you wash your clothes, hard water and detergents cause build up to accumulate also, inside the tub, pump and hoses. This build-up reduces the ability of your washing machine to perform and mineral build-up can be abrasive to your cloths and diapers you are washing, causing them to wear faster. Cleaning your machine eliminates these problems.
First, run a cycle of hot water along with two cups of vinegar or lemon juice to loosen up soap and grime. Remove the fabric softener receptacle and soak it in hot water and detergent. Clean the bleach dispenser with a spray cleaner and paper towels and Q-tips. Don’t forget to clean the top rim of the wash bucket as it is up and under where it can’t usually be seen easily and becomes dirty. Run the washer empty on a hot cycle one more time.
While this is going on you check all your hoses for leaks. Over time, the water hoses that came with your unit may leak or burst. It’s a good preventive maintenance practice to check these hoses from time to time for any sign of wear or weakness. Most manufacturers recommend replacing the hoses every 5 years. Make sure your hoses are not a disaster waiting to occur!
Once you’ve soaked the fabric softener receptacle, replace it and polish up the outside of your washing machine with vinegar and a cloth towel. Your washing machine now looks better and will run better as well!
Happy washing!
Decorate Hotel Rooms With Wall Mounted Soap Dispensers December 9, 2011 No Comments
Earlier in top hotels and resorts the only form of providing soap to customers was standard soap bars. Nowadays in many budget hotels, luxurious hotels and resorts the wall mounted soap dispensers have replaced soap bars in the bathrooms. Normal soaps might be a good option at home but in public places many times all people who have washed their hands with the soap bars may not have clean hands and leave some residue over the soap. This makes it difficult for the next person to use it and it gives an unhygienic feel. Many hotels sometimes have to spend lots of money on soap bars as they are easy to steal and are carried away by the people.
Bathrooms are relaxing and unwinding places for many people. People who like to pamper themselves and get rid of the day’s stress. If a hotel room provides a luxury bath tub filled with warm water accompanied with foamy soaps and soft towels, it would be a very relaxing experience for the guests. They would feel pampered which is a positive thing for your customers’ opinion about your hotel. Especially the fairer sex always enjoys such experiences. For extra pleasure you can also provide the hotel guests with bath salts, loofah and soap dispensers filled with scented soapy liquids.
The bathroom soap dispensers have found a place into many luxurious hotels and resorts where shower soap dispensers are also provided. It keeps check over the usage of shampoos, conditioners and avoids wastage of soaps. Liquid soap dispensers give a more sophisticated look to the bathroom area of a hotel room. It decreases the mess and waste and it’s very easy to use. Just by pressing a single button you get liquid soap from the soap dispensers.
Generally guests expect something more from their hotel stay in a 5-star hotel which they would not get in their homes. These soap wall dispensers can be ordered and purchased from a good online store that is involved in the manufacturing and supplying of luxury soap dispensers and liquid soap.
The design and material of the liquid soap dispensers vary from colored fancy to chrome to clear tube bottles, accompanied with various toilet accessories like towel hooks, bath loofahs, etc. It gives hotel bathrooms a clean and uncluttered look. They are liked by customers of all ages and sexes, kids would not able to waste soap and it’s easy for them to use.
MRSA – Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Infections in Athletes and Active People December 5, 2011 No Comments
What is a Staph infection?
Staphylococcus aureus is a bacteria commonly found on the skin or in the nose of most people. The Staph bacteria can be common causes of minor skin infections such as boils and pimples. In other cases, the Staph bacteria can cause a more serious infection.
What is MRSA?
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a type of bacteria that does not respond to certain antibiotics such as penicillin or amoxicillin. Although MRSA was once only seen in very ill and hospitalized patients, it has become much more common in the general population and community.
How common is MRSA?
MRSA has been found in a majority of children with skin infections seen in Oakland emergency rooms in recent years. MRSA can occur in athletes – In 2003, five members of the St. Louis Rams NFL football team as well as former San Diego Charger Junior Seau were treated for MRSA infections.
How do I know if I have MRSA and what does a MRSA infection look like?
Initially, you may have a small, coin-sized area of redness, warmth and swelling like a boil or pimple. Occasionally, there may be pus or draining fluid from the area. MRSA infections commonly occur on the thigh, groin and armpits (axilla), but can be found on any part of the body. Sometimes there may be swelling and pain of a joint. In more advanced cases, there may be complaints of moderate to severe pain at the site of the infection, or fever and chills.
What should I do if I think I have MRSA?
Let your athletic trainer know immediately and see your physician or health care provider. MRSA and other skin infections are treatable with antibiotics if seen quickly enough.
How can I get MRSA?
The most common way to get MRSA is through an open or uncovered scrape or skin abrasion. It’s important to keep any scrapes clean and covered with a clean bandage.
How can I prevent spreading MRSA if I have it?
1. Good hygiene – Keep your hands clean and prevent spreading MRSA germs by frequently washing your hands for 15 to 30 seconds with warm soapy water. Use a soap dispenser instead of bar soap. If water or soap isn’t available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer solution.
2. Keep cuts covered with clean bandages – If the cut or wound can’t be completely covered, the athlete shouldn’t be in contact sports
3. Don’t share personal items – MRSA may be transmitted by sharing towels, athletic equipment or other personal items such as razor blades.
4. Keep athletic and training equipment clean – Most current disinfectants will kill MRSA and other bacteria. Use a clean towel on training equipment and to wipe down and dry off equipment when done. Clean larger area equipment such as wrestling mats on a regular basis with a disinfectant and check yourself for any early signs of infection such as a skin area that is red, warm or swollen.
Coastal Sports & Wellness Medical Center is providing this information as a public service.
Our physicians are also available for school and athletic department speaking engagements. Contact us at (858) 678-0300 for scheduling.
Decorate a Kid’s Bathroom – Different Ideas December 1, 2011 No Comments
Do not take your kid’s bathroom for granted. It is one of the most difficult things to take care of. This is one such room in your house, which is used the most. Parents of kids try to decorate their bathroom all by themselves, which shows the generation gap. Children rarely appreciate this. Read on to know more.
Know whom you are decorating for: First thing. For whom are you decorating the bathroom? Is it your son? If you know his interests, it will help you decorate it in the right way. Cars, bugs etc. are the things boys love. So see to it what he loves. If the kid is your daughter, a girl may have a different taste, which your son may not like. In short, how you decorate your kid’s bathroom depends on what the gender of the child is.
Accessories and Decorations: Accessories depends on what your kid loves. If your kid likes cars, you can buy towels and curtains that have pictures of cars or world famous racing car drivers on them. Children generally like cartoons. Therefore, you can have rugs of Disney cartoons, Tom and Jerry, Ben Ten or paste pictures on walls. Tumblers of various shapes are a thing of attraction for kids. A dinosaur shaped tumbler may go well with a boy. Girls by nature love to look good. Therefore, she would like a tumbler of a lovely delicate looking princess. Other things like soap, soap holders of various shapes are also available. Among other things, you can also pay attention to minute details like basket handles, soap dishes, knob of the cabinet or drawer, tissue dispenser where all these can be decorated. You can buy rubber faces of famous cartoon character or plastic animals or clowns as your kid would like.
Growing Bathroom with Growing Child: Remember one thing though. Not all this is going to stay on for eternity. One day your child is going to grow older and with the passage of time, he will start taking lesser interest in the clown faces or rubber animals. With age, the interests and love change. The above-described accessories, decorations will fade away, and something new will take its place. Things like basket handles, soap dishes, bathmats, cabinet or drawer knobs, tissue dispenser, and curtains can easily be replaced according to the new tastes of your children. Keeping this in mind, never decorate the bathroom with accessories that will become difficult to replace after some years. For example, a wallpaper or towel with a cartoon face will attract your kid’s attention until he is only a kid. Once he is old enough, he will naturally get less interested in it. Any ways, a towel will get dirty and is liable to wear and tear and you would have either ways changed it. However, wallpaper even if intact, cannot be replaced as easily as a towel.
Finally, these are just ideas. Decorating your kid’s bathroom remains limited by not being able to imagine. If you know your child’s interests, you can easily pick the best accessory. That will surely bring a smile on his or her innocent face.
Shampoo Dispensers – A Quicker and Convenient Way to Use Shampoo November 30, 2011 No Comments
Squeezing out shampoo from the bottle can be annoying and can take a long time especially if there is only a few of it left at the very bottom. Furthermore, having too many bottles in your shower or bath area can give it a more cluttered look making your bath time more stressful instead of relaxing. Shampoo bottles can also contribute to more environmental problems when you dispose of them so as a solution to all those problems, you can start using shampoo dispensers instead.
It’s like a liquid soap dispenser
A shampoo dispenser is used for holding shampoo but you can also use it for dispensing conditioner. Usually made up of one or more containers, shampoo dispensers have a nozzle for releasing the shampoo when you press the button or the pump. They may resemble liquid soap dispensers except that they contain shampoo and conditioner.
The most common types of dispensers for shampoos include those that you can mount on walls and those that you can set on your bathroom counter, the shower area, or bathtub. Wall-mounted variants are permanent and stable for easier access to shampoo and they are activated with buttons at the top or at the bottom. On the other hand, counter dispensers look like bottles of liquid soap dispensers but they can be moved or transported. They have nozzles on top and utilizes the pump mechanism to dispense the shampoo.
A buying tip: can you see the shampoo?
Shampoo dispensers provide you with a more convenient and quicker way to gain access to your favorite shampoo when washing your hair. You want to go for a dispenser that allows you to see what’s inside. Choose a semi-transparent or a fully transparent one so you can easily determine when it is time for a refill just by looking at the contents.
Accessorize Your Bathroom November 24, 2011 No Comments
Bathroom accessories are an essential part of a bathroom design. With such a wide range of soap dispensers, toilet seats, toothbrush holders, towel rails, etc that come in in so many shapes, styles and designs it’s important you make the right choice.
There are two main things to consider when choosing your bathroom accessory: function and design. Function perhaps is the most important factor, if you are disabled or elderly a strong bathroom rail that will support you weight is more important than one that looks nice. A wall mounted toothbrush holder will make more sense if you have little space around the sink. Modern steel and glass scales might look great but if you have to spend half an hour putting in details each time you want to know your weight, they are a waste of space. So make sure you consider your needs before committing to a bathroom accessory that simply looks great.
Of course they need to be functional, a soap dispenser needs to hold and dispense soap, but there are so many choices in style from stainless steel, chrome, ceramic, free standing or wall mounted and more, so why use the boring original branded containers? To add the finishing touch to your bathroom design there is nothing simpler than choosing the right bathroom accessory. A driftwood mirror will add a the perfect touch to a seaside theme. Gold bathroom accessories such as soap and toothbrush holders can add a hint of luxury. Wrought iron candlestick holders or other black accessories will add the Gothic or romantic touch to a bathroom. A carefully chosen accessory can enhance an otherwise plain bathroom design.
By considering your requirements in terms of function and then selecting the right style of bathroom accessories you can add the finishing touch to the perfect bathroom design.
Three Refreshingly Different Bathroom Shower Designs November 23, 2011 No Comments

After a back-breaking day’s work at the office, the agonizingly slow pace of traffic on freeways has the inveterate proclivity to provoke dudgeon. And so when you finally make inroads into the precincts of your warm and welcoming home, you look forward to nothing else but a few moments of peace and calm under the simply delightful shower. As the gush of water bathes every tired sinew, every aching joint, you are flooded with a sea of wonderful emotions.
How you wished this pure, unrestrained indulgence could never end? Well, guess what? The deluge of hi-end, unique and dazzling bathroom shower designs more than answer all your fervent entreaties.
A Spring In Your Stride
A shower is more than just the easiest way to beat the sting of the summer sun. A hot shower, both fast or slow, free-flowing or with small stops in between, is equally exhilarating. Depending on the weather and your frame of mind, you can decide on how to drench both your body and soul completely.
The fact that showers are faster and more economical as compared to baths only adds to their burgeoning popularity.
At Their Formulae Best
Thanks to the stupendous strides in technology, showers have made an impressive progress from being generic dispensers of hot and cold water to highly advanced, water temperature regulating exalted objects of desire.
Here are four such avant-garde designs that exude a hard-to-ignore hypnotic power:
Mixer shower: As the name suggests, this design mixes both hot and cold water while in use. It is perfect for homes that have the facility of stored hot water. The controls can be either manual with a set of regulators, or automatic with a thermostat regulator.
Electric shower: Its highly advanced technology heats up only the water to be used during the shower, so the water supplied to other parts of the house remain unaffected.
Venturi shower: This design boasts of a regulator that ensures continuous flow of water even in the absence of a water pump.
Power shower: A prolific combination of a mixing control and pump ensures that residents in homes with low water pressure are not deprived of this extravagance.
I’m sure all this priceless information has suffused you with a sense of fulsome buoyancy.
Sanitary Door Openers November 18, 2011 No Comments
We all have to visit a public restroom at one time or another. Sometimes the restroom is equipped with one or more automatic, sensor-operated devices that can prevent cross-contamination. The final act that keeps contamination at bay is an exit via a sanitary door opener.
We can find automatic toilet flushers in many of the public restrooms, and we appreciate that we do not have to touch those flusher handles. The thought of handling toilet flushers after many other users can be a gross turn-off. Sensors take care of that for us. When facilities do not have them, people resort to using their foot to flush if they are that agile. Toilet tissue can be used to touch the handle too.
Next we exit the stall door and that can add some germs to our hands. We wash our hands with or without automatic, sensor-operated soap dispensers and faucets. Twenty second handwashing can get rid of those microbes left behind by former users. We now have clean hands providing we don’t have to turn off a faucet by hand. One trick to avoiding this particular contamination is to use a paper towel or wrist to turn off the faucet.
That brings us to the issue of touchless, hands free towel dispensers. When this type of dispenser is available,we can rest assured that after we have washed our hands, avoided touching a faucet handle, and used a handsfree towel dispenser, we have truly prevented cross-contamination left by others. That is a good feeling. Now how do we exit? If there is a way to exit without touching a handle with the hands, then we are good to go.
There are different devices that accomplish this, namely, foot-operated add-ons, arm grasping handles, and sensor-operated door openers. Last but not least, that clean towel can be used to exit the door. Drop it in the trash after you open the door.
Shower Cleaners – Choosing The Right Product For The Job November 17, 2011 No Comments
Shower cleaners as well as general shower and bathroom storage are two extremely important aspects to any bathroom. Aside from the personal cleaning products that are so prevalent in this space, it is equally vital to ensure the area in which we are cleaning ourselves is in itself clean and well organized.
Shower cleaners and corresponding shower storage pieces come in a wide range of different styles that in turn exhibit different attributes. In terms of shower cleaners, you can opt for something that portrays a specific scent that you find appealing; or a product that is made from organic materials that passes natural benefits to both you, as well as the environment.
Shower storage is equally as ranged in terms of the wide array of styles and designs that are available. Currently, there has been quite a push for manufacturers to produce more modern looking shower product units that act as both dispensers as well as storage units. These units offer a unique and modern look, as well as optimum ease of access to various products that are used often in the space.
What Makes A Particular Shower Cleaner Popular?
There are a few aspects to shower cleaners that set some above the rest. Currently, there are popular trends among consumers that manufacturers have begun incorporating into their cleaning products. The first, and likely, the most important is using ingredients that are natural or organic. Secondly is producing unique products that exhibit exotic scents and tend to be heavy duty; but yield somewhat toxic ingredients. Both of these categories of prospective cleaners are extremely popular among consumers.
Organic Shower Cleaners
Organic shower cleaners are cleaners that emphasize natural ingredients that tend to be safer for the consumer, as well as have less of an effect on the environment as a result of their manufacturing. These products come in a wide range of variances in terms of just how organic they are. Some products focus specifically on being 100% organic while yielding some of the more appealing sensual aspects that tie hand in hand with less organic products that put more of a focus onto exotic scents and cleaning properties. Organic shower cleaners are a fantastic option for those looking for products that are proven safe for the home, as well as the environment.
Heavy Duty Shower Cleaners
Shower cleaners that put more of an emphasis towards various scents and cleaning properties still hold a large portion of the popular market. These products are manufactured for quality efficiency and ease of use to the consumer. However, as a result, these products tend to exhibit a wider range of toxic chemicals in order to accomplish the easy; heavy duty cleaning that they offer. As such, for people looking for a solution in their bathroom that requires the least amount of work; but contain semi-toxic chemicals, these uniquely scented products tend to be the best option.
Shower Storage
Aside from the various shower cleaners that are available for the bathroom, there comes the ability to store them, as well as personal care products within the space to ensure everything is easily accessible and organized. As such, many manufacturers are playing into the excess of popularity in the modern design market and have produced many innovative and useful products that play into this demand for shower storage needs. Among the most popular are modern dispensers that can be hung or mounted within the shower. Depending on the type that is purchased, these dispensers can hold a number of various personal care products allowing for ease of access and organization. Aside from that, many provide a shelf to put other various shower cleaners and personal care items such as loofahs or shower brushes.